The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-01
FROM Los ANGELES, CAL.
THE "PLOwER FESTIVAL" A
BEAU IIFUL SIGHT
That Could Not be Surpassed by Any
Other City In the
UniOn.
looaRssPoxDEycE OF rnr AppEAL.l

paper for a letter from the City of
the Angels?" Although far removed
from Memphis, still / think the bond
Of good fellowship unites the TWO cit
les. We have seen several articles
from the Memphis papers repro
duced in the papers here. bluff
City" dailies are always hailed with
delight in our household, especially
as they are rather unfrequent. Los
Angeles is rapidly taking her proud
station among the large cities of the
Union. The population has doubled
in the last five years, and is still in
creasing. Business is lively, the
faces of the real estate dealers are
wreathed in smiles, and the sounds
Of building going on all over the city
give evidence of its prosperity. But
| started out to write about the
" Flower Festival" OF the many
beautiful scenes in Los Angeles,
none could surpass this. 1t was in
augurated three years ago
by the ladies of the city,
for the purpose Of raising
funds to establish a "Woman's
Home" The Flower Festival is
destined to become as distinctive
feature of Los Angeles as the New
Orleans Mardi Gras or the Cincin-
natl Musical Festival. The third
annual festival, which commenced
on the 18th instant, and continued
through the 23d, outrivaled the
preceding ones in splendor. 1t was
held in the Pavilion, "a building about
the size of the old Exposition build
Jog in your city. Night after night
the Pavilion was crowded to its ut
most capacity by the pleasure
seekers, numbers of whom we're
from the snow clad North, and
to whom the magnificent display of
Queen Flora's wealth was like a
glimpse of tairyland or some earthly
paradise. Surely no queen ever had
lovelier palace. Let me describe
it as we saw it. All flowers have left
their native heaths, and, uniting
themselves into one harmonious
whole, send up fragrance such as
in ages long past assembled from the
Garden of Eden. Pendent from the
ceiling hang festoons OF cedar, while
on the walls century plants, with
their huge green leaves, look i'm
posingly down. The outside railing
of the gallery is one mass of Gala
lilies, bowling their golden heads to
their humber sisters on the lower
floor. Here the main attraction is a
fountain about the size of that in
Court Square. Around the fountain
are twined vines of ivy, smilax and
cypress, while on the clear, sparkling
water below callas are serenely float
ing, spray believed. A bank of
flowers FIVE feet wide, composed
mostly of roses, surrounds the fount-
ain; roses in a royal thrOng" of
every variety and hue are represent
ed, in some places shaded gradually
from deepest crimson to pure white,
in others beds of white roses with
baskets and horseshoes worked in
red flowers, they form a scene of
rare beauty. To the right we see a
ship, twelve feet long, in full rig
cling; the hull is composed of white
marguerites, the masts and .spars OF
cedar and ivy; from sail futters
little flag, on which is written The
New State" while on the side, in
letters Of red geranium, appear the
words, Southern California" the
proposed new State. The ship is
freighted with Californian products,
oranges, lemons and lines, and looks
all ready for a voyage. Further on
we come across our old nursery
friend, the old woman who lived in
shoe" The shoe made of scarlet
geraniums, with pretty bow of pan
sizes, is ten feet long; peeping from it
in every direction are the innumera-
BILE children, while the much worried
mother is trying to keep peace by
means of a fagellant peach limb. In
the midst of this wealth of flowers,
what is our surprise to see a tobog-
gan slide, glittering with crystals, on
whose snowy bed toboggan of gay
flowers presents striking contrast.
The ice palace, exhibited near the
close of the festival, also called forth
many EXPLANATIONS of surprise, par
ticularly from Southerners, who had
never seen such a wonder. 1t occu-
pies eighty-one square feet, and was
made of solid blocks of ice, weighing
altogether over seven tons. 1t is an
imitation of the ice castle erected at
St. Paul year ago. With the cleo
trio lights shedding their mellow ra-
dance upon it, Transforming its
white walls into brilliant tints,
it seems veritable Aladdin's palace.
Soon our attention is directed to
the stage, where tableaux, songs and
a parade add zest to the joyousness of
the occasion. In the parade Mother
Earth and her faithful subjects,
rain, hail, snow, frost, dew, sunshine,
darkness, flowers and insects were
appropriately represented; in a
chariot, drawn by the sturdy sons of
toll, sits Father Time, holding the
inevitable scythe and an hour glass;
around him stand the four seasons.
While the procession is marching,
lol the whole scene is wrapped in
| udl huSSo, puhC mlSOulCNOuo DUyo
pulled the electric wires, and for
once on record, time waited, and
then until the electric lights should
see fit to shine forth again. Now
the parade is over, and behind the
shadow of the friendly curtain a few
couples convert the stage into a
dancing floor, and to the dreamy
strains of the waltz are tripping
the light fantastic" Gay booths
scattered here and there next at
tract our attention; one is prettily
decorated by huge fan, the differ
ent folds composed of marigolds, red
geraEiums, marguerites and cedar. AT
other booths floral horseshoes, vases,
bicycles, crosses, anchors, shields an
American eagle, pair of spectacl-s'
bow and arrow, etc., are beautifully
wrought. One of the loveliest de-
signs is the Gate to Paradise" com
posed of several arches of white
Banskin roses, resembling the per-
spective in a picture, Here is the